The method described herein relates to methods for detecting credit/debit card fraud. Plastic card fraud is a costly problem, some recent reports state that there have been more than $236 million in losses in the past three years, $100 million in 2005 alone. Reportedly, losses in 2006 are already ahead of last year's pace, and the worst may be yet to come. The rising tide of plastic card fraud losses threatens to wash away the ability of credit unions to provide competitive card programs for their members. Closing security breaches is a top priority, but the criminal minds perpetrating these acts of thievery on unsuspecting individuals and businesses are resilient, resourceful and relentless. Reports further indicate that while credit card fraud continues to grow, recent major breaches have also involved debit cards. The theft of debit and credit card information from databases at nationally known retailers have recently received wide spread publicity. It has been reported that breaches at major retailers earlier this year resulted in hundreds of thousands of compromised accounts, resulting fraudulent transactions and the expense of blocking and reissuing of thousands of debit and credit cards. The consequences are costly. When informed of the breaches, financial/banking institutions scramble to either closely monitor compromised card accounts for fraud, or cancel them and reissue new cards with new account numbers. Replacing plastic cards is a painstaking and expensive process costing institutions as much as twenty-five dollars, or more, per card. Increased losses may lead to a tarnished reputation. In addition to millions of dollars in expenses, card-issuers are left to address the questions, concerns, and fears of angry card holders. Even though card issuers are not responsible for the breaches, each breach undermines the relationship between the issuer and the card holder. Relationships that have taken years to nurture can quickly sour when card holders are at risk of becoming fraud victims or having their identity stolen.
Therefore, there is a need for a method for detecting credit/debit card fraud, such as will be described in more detail below.